Paul Connaughton Snr (Galway East, Fine Gael)

Thank you, Deputy.

What will happen to our beef industry over the next two years will determine whether it will be worth my while and that of 100,000 other Irish farmers to get up at 6 a.m. and spend two hours dealing with a difficult calving. A million or more other calves will be born on Irish farms this year. Multiples of that number of calves will be born on Brazilian and Agentinian farms. While Ireland is a member state of the European Union, Brazil and Argentina are not member states of it, but with their scale of production, better weather conditions, lower feed and wage bills and with the way the system has been set up worldwide, they will be able to undercut the price of our beef exports on the European market.

We must export eight out of every ten animals reared on Irish farms. My calf and the other million calves that will be born this year must undergo the most stringent compliance measures, which are much more stringent than those applying to Brazilian and Argentinian calves. Irish farmers must comply with these measures to ensure that consumers can trace beef products for sale back to my animal and other animals which is possible because of the records documenting their lives from farm to fork.

I had to tag both ears of that new born calf this morning. His details were forwarded to the CMMS computer system in Cork today and I will receive a full passport for that animal in a few days' time. Every animal has a full passport, which is not something every member of the population has. I must enter that animal's birth in a herd book, of which I am sure the Ministers of State are aware. I must also enter every injection that animal will get during his life. I must have separate special storage space for all medicines and needles. I must have proper wintering facilities and I must care for this animal as if he was a family pet. I must test the animal for TB every year and if I have a TB reactor, I will not be able to buy or sell animals until two consecutive tests have been successfully completed. I must record the animal foodstuffs I buy. If an animal contracts foot and mouth disease or BSE, my herd will be slaughtered. This process is overseen by several on-farm inspectors.

A farmer was fined 1% of his total grant aid the other day because he was not able to advise the Department the breed of the bull that impregnated his teenage heifer. In other words, he could not say from where the bull came and he lost 1% of his total grant aid. That illustrates the process of cross-compliance. It is a long way from what is happening in Brazil. The system in place there is light years behind us.

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